Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235 discloses a structure, wherein multiple article support bodies oriented in the direction perpendicular to a main conveying path are attached between a pair of left and right endless rotary bodies installed along the main conveying path, guided bodies are provided on the rear surface side of article transverse pushing bodies guided by the article support bodies, and a guide device for guiding the guided bodies is provided. The article support body has a flat article-carry plate section, a pair of leg plate sections installed consecutively in the direction of the main conveying path from the middle section of the rear surface of the article carry plate section, a front plate section extending downward from the front end of the article carry plate section, a step-like front bottom plate section connecting the lower end of the front plate section with the lower end of the front leg plate section, a rear plate member extending downward from the rear end of the article carry plate section, and a step-like rear bottom plate section connecting the lower end of the rear plate section with the lower end of the rear leg plate section.
The article transverse pushing body is fitted over the article support body and is formed to have a rectangular tubular shape from an upper plate member facing the article carry plate section from above, a front plate member facing the front plate section from the front, a rear plate member facing the rear plate section from behind, and a bottom plate member facing the bottom plate section and the like from below. A guided section that is joined and slidably guided between the two leg plate sections is formed in the bottom plate member. Furthermore, an action section for pushing in the transverse direction is formed integrally at the front surface side of the upper plate member of the article transverse pushing body.
The endless rotary body is of an endless chain type and specific link pins protrude inwardly therein. Side members are attached to both ends of the article support bodies and the specific link pins are inserted and joined to tubular linking sections formed at the side members, thereby linking the two ends of the article support bodies to the endless chain via the respective side members.
With this conventional configuration, the articles are supported and conveyed by a group of article support bodies that move as a unit body when driven by the endless rotary bodies. In this process, the guided bodies are guided by a group of guide devices and cause the movement of the article transverse pushing bodies, thereby pushing the articles in the transverse direction and transferring them sidewise by the group of article transverse pushing bodies.
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. H5-42220 discloses a structure, wherein bent sections comprising an upper flat plate section and side plate sections extending downward from both ends of the flat plate section and bent inwardly from the lower ends of the side plate sections are installed horizontally and consecutively. A pair of reinforcing wall sections hang from the flat plate section inside this structure.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-115680 discloses a structure, wherein link shafts for linking the links in a chain have a large length and are provided in a protruding condition. Mounting members are attached to the end surface of a slat. The link shafts of the chain are press fitted in and fixed to the tubular section formed at the plate section of the mounting member.
However, with the configuration of the aforementioned conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235), because the upper plate member, front plate member, rear plate member, and bottom plate member of the article transverse pushing body have a uniform thickness, there is a risk of the article transverse pushing body being deformed by a transverse-pushing eccentric load induced, for example, when a heavy article is pushed transversely and transferred sidewise. This problem can be resolved by increasing the entire thickness of the upper plate member, front plate member, rear plate member, and bottom plate member, but this results in the increased weight of the entire article transverse pushing body.
Furthermore, the guided section formed in the bottom plate member of the article transverse pushing body is mated with and slidably guided by the lower ends of the leg plate sections, that is, the lower ends where the engaging sections have been formed, between the two leg plate sections located on the article support body, and therefore a large gap is formed between the upper surface of the guided section, the article carry plate section, and the lower surface. Therefore, there is a risk of the guide section shaking or changing significantly the posture (orientation) thereof during the reciprocating movement of the article transverse pushing body and this reciprocating movement cannot be implemented with good stability.
Furthermore, with the configuration of another conventional example (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. H5-42220), a sufficient strength cannot be expected because the bent section has a horizontal shape or because a tongue-like shape that can be easily caught on other components is provided at the free end of the vertical cross sectional thereof.
Furthermore, with the configuration of the above-described conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235), the article support body is linked to the endless chain by inserting and joining the specific link pins into the linking sections on the side members. With the configuration of yet another conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-115680), the slat is linked to the chain by pressing the link shaft into and fixing to a tubular section of the mounting member. In all those configurations, the joint state is difficult to maintain. Thus, when the system is used, transverse vibrations occur in the article support body (slat) or endless chain (chain), and when a pulling force acts upon the insertion and joining section (pressing and fixing section), the endless chain (chain) separates from the article support body (slat), thereby disturbing the joint state. As a result, the rotation of the endless chain (chain) cannot be conducted smoothly and there is a risk of noise being generated by shaking and the chain coming off the sprockets.